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Digital Short Series Competition

seriesfest · September 21, 2021 ·

This category is for the rule-breakers!

Each year, the Digital Short Series Competition exhibits creatives who are telling episodic stories without the restriction of traditional run times. SeriesFest is looking to find and honor exciting new digital series with episodes under 15 minutes.

SUBMISSIONS OPEN NOW!

Please carefully review the deadlines, material requirements, and guidelines listed below and on our FilmFreeway page. Fill out your applications and get your projects in before the final deadline. Got questions? Check out our Submission FAQs or email us at info@seriesfest.com. 



KEY DATES & FEES

Early-Bird Deadline
OCT 01, 2023
Regular Deadline
DEC 01, 2023
Final Deadline
JAN 11, 2024
Standard$60$80$110
FilmFreeway Gold Member$40$60$90
Student$35$45$55

AWARDS & PRIZES

Official Selections are up for the following awards:

  • Best of Digital Short Series
  • Best Performance
  • Best Director
  • Best Writer
  • Audience Award

Winners will be determined by a jury of high-profile industry and talent during the annual festival. Awards are announced at our Awards Ceremony and will be included in our website and media announcements. Past jurors include David Person (IFC), Liz Shannon Miller (Collider), Kuye Youngblood (BricTV), Jose Acevedo (Comedy Central), and Brian Newman (Sub-Genre). Scroll down to see the complete list of last year’s jurors and winners.

INCLUSIVITY INITIATIVE AWARDS

This category is eligible for Inclusivity Initiative Awards including the Level Forward Impact Award, the Caz Matthews Fund, and the Inclusive Creator Fund presented by the Anna & John J. Sie and the Global Down Syndrome Foundations. Awards will be given to the episodic projects and teams who demonstrate a thoughtful, thorough, and deliberate approach to using storytelling as a means of leveling the playing field for underrepresented people including women, BIPOC, LGBTQIA and alternatively abled voices.

Learn More

OUTSTANDING SERIES FORMAT DECK PRESENTED BY CANVA

SeriesFest is partnering with Canva, our Preferred Design Platform, to acknowledge the creativity and skill necessary to build the perfect series format deck. SeriesFest: Season 10 Official Selections who choose to create their series format decks on Canva will have the opportunity to win the inaugural Outstanding Series Format Deck Award, a $5,000 cash prize, for the best series format deck submission created in Canva.

learn more

ENTRY MATERIALS

Produced Pilot
Submitted via FilmFreeway’s Secure Online Screener system. Each episode must be under 15 minutes. Creators are encouraged to submit multiple episodes totaling 20 minutes of run time. International productions are eligible.

Series Format Deck
All submissions must include a Series Format Deck which can either be submitted using a Canva file URL hyper linked under “Project Links” or as a PDF under “Files & Attachments”. An effective Series Format Deck introduces your project in a visually exciting and emotionally powerful way. It captures the reader’s imagination, allowing them to see the full scope of the series and embrace the characters.

The Series Format Deck should be no longer than 15 pages and include the following:

  • Log Line
  • Pilot Synopsis
  • Season One Outline
  • Main Character Descriptions (Up to 5)
  • Tone of your series (can include no more than 2 comps)
  • Producing Team
  • Key Creatives
  • Goals for your Series
  • A Creator Statement that includes Why This Idea, Why Me, and Why Now?

Not sure where to get started on your Series Format Deck? You don’t have to start from a blank page. Check out the SERIESFEST – APPROVED TEMPLATE created in Canva. Personalize it, and make it your own!

Press Kit Material
Any available press kit material

FilmFreeway Entry Fee

Please note, entry materials will not be returned

INCLUSION INITIATIVE WAIVER APPLICATION

SeriesFest, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Canada, is launching a sequence of opportunities to make our festival more accessible for all content creators and to celebrate a commitment to diversity and equity, including a waiver for submissions. Pilots applying for the Independent Pilot, Digital Short Series, Unscripted, and Lat Night competitions have the opportunity to apply for a submission waiver.

LEARN MORE


Season 9 Winners

FREDERICK DOUGLASS BOULEVARD AKA FOOD & DRINK BOULEVARD AKA F.D.B.

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST PERFORMANCE, BEST DRAMA:
Washington Kirk

    PEAR

    BEST WRITER, BEST COMEDY:
    Madeline Mahoney & Peter Molesworth

      JENNIFER AND CHICKEN

      BEST PERFORMANCE, COMEDY:
      Meg Kelly

        BLACK CREEK

        BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
        The East Brothers (Michael Goitanich & Connor Pannell

          KRYSTAL KLAIRVOYANT

          BEST INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL SHORT:
          Erin Good

            ALL AT ONCE

            AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST DIGITAL SHORT:
            Mustafa Eck

              Previous Jury Members

              Rob Yang

              Actor

                Daryn Carp

                Actor

                  Milan Chakraborty

                  Marginal Mediaworks

                    Jason Hiro Kim

                    Good Karma Productions

                      Bruce Robertson

                      11:11 Media

                        Matt Bolish

                        New York Film Festival, Film at Lincoln Center

                          Julie DeJoie

                          Shoe Money Productions

                            Miranda Sherman

                            OBB Media

                              Rebecca Agbe-Davies

                              Sony Entertainment


                                Have more questions?

                                VIEW SUBMISSION FAQS
                                EMAIL SERIESFEST

                                Internal, Pilot Competitions, Submissions Standard

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